


Mad As A Hatter

by ETNMystic



Series: Our Eternity Together [2]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland, Brainwashing, Creepy flirting, F/M, Jervis Tetch kind of character, Kidnapping, Lewis Carroll - Freeform, Three tests, awards ceremony, have you never heard of consent, i'm breaking up OET into parts, penelope's exposed, the appearance of teastones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-01-20 18:17:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18530509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: The group settles in a neck of a woods near Paramount Ranch, but all seems to be turned upside down when they run into a clock man who's obsessed with Lewis Carroll(It's the best description I have right now. It's 2 am)





	1. Tick-Tock

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally stopped at a sort-of camp. It was lush, filled with greenery and flora of all sizes. Some rather weird ones. I think I saw a few red mushrooms, and they were a little big for mushrooms.

“I wish there was some hot food,” Dooper groaned.  
“I could go with a nice piece of pie or something.”

That got my attention.

“Pie definitely does sound good,” I sighed staring out into oblivion, daydreaming about the pecan pie I’d get every Thanksgiving.  
"Especially pecan pie."

All of a sudden, I heard a cute little giggle that grew stronger and stronger. Whirling around, I saw Rosanna in near stitches.

“What’s so funny?” I asked curiously.

“You just look so cute when you’re daydreaming,” Ro smiled tearing up, causing me to blush.

This giggling spread through the rest of the group. Even Ines ended up cracking a bit. Now with the tension somewhat dissolved, our next step was to find a fuel source. 

"I'll go get some firewood," I volunteered sheepishly.

"Okay, but don't go too far," Matt warned me.  
"This place is a literal jungle here."

"Relax, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm being hunted," I scoffed as I started off, though I had a strange feeling that I was being watched.

* * *

He’d spotted her as the group was making its way onto his land. This madman in a hat had been looking for companionship for a long time and to find a girl with such creative potential as well as a sweet face was a Godsend in his book.

 _No more blather. I must have her._ He thought as he slinked away from the bushes.

* * *

I'd spent the previous half hour or so comparing sticks and logs of various sizes, trying to determine which ones would be best for the fire, but I had no fucking idea which ones would be the best.

“If only someone knew the forestry around here,” I wondered frustrated.  
"I have no clue what to look for."

All of a sudden, I heard this rustling sound. Whirling around, I spied a young and quite handsome man with a five o clock shadow in a strange hat approaching me.

_Maybe he knows about the nature here._

“Excuse me, sir?” I asked.  
“I was wondering if you could tell me what the best kind of wood this forest has that can be used in a fire.”

He looked at me, smiling in a gentlemanly fashion.

“Of course I can. Oakwood’s often very sufficient at keeping a fire for a while. However I always find that teastones are much better.”

That set me a bit off-guard.

“Teastones?”

“Teastones. I don’t generally like to waste them, but if you happen to find a few of them out there, you can wish for a warm fire on them. In fact I happen to have a few at my cottage. It’s not too far from here.”

“Great," I sighed in relief.  
"Just let me get my friends.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. It’ll only be for a few moments. And quite frankly, I feel that you’ll quite like my cottage.”

He reached out for my hand. I hesitated, but was about to take it when...

“Mystic?” Alice called out, I whirled around to see her waving in the distance.  
“You got the wood?”

“Not yet.”

“Who is that?” the man asked curiously.

“Oh, that’s my friend, Alice.”

His eyes widened as he whispered something under his breath. I couldn't quite make out what. He seemed to be quite excited to hear this.

“I suppose, if she would like to come,” he replied.  
“I would be willing to let her.”

I gestured to Alice and she skipped over to us, and that somehow seemed to satisfy him.

“Very well then. Let us go.” 

* * *

 As we walked, Alice and I noticed all of this strange flora and even fauna of this forest.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Mystic?” Alice hesitated quietly as a strange bird flew above us.  
“We don’t know him.”

“Maybe not,” I whispered back.  
“But we don’t know the type of plants and wood that are here. He seems like he lives here, so it’d be best to take the risk. Otherwise we’re gonna be up the creek without a paddle.”

“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Alice gulped.

_I just hope I know what I'M doing._

We arrived a few moments later at a quaint little cottage shaped like a teapot. The strange man took out a key with a pocket watch attached to it and turned it, opening the door slowly. Stepping inside, we saw that this man seemed to have two main interests; clocks and teapots.

_Oh God....._

“Call me mad as a hatter,” I whispered anxiously.  
“I have a bad feeling now.”

“Maybe we should leave,” Alice suggested quietly.

I shook my head.

“If we try to leave before we get the information we need, he’ll think we’re criminals or something. I've already got one group trying to track me down. I don't need another. Let’s just try to be friendly for now.”

Nodding Alice tried to busy herself by looking for other things, when she spotted a strange book sticking out of a shelf. It was colored bright red. I also spotted that book and my mind began to wonder what the hell he'd have hiding behind that shelf. 

“Here we are, faster than a star,” the man recited.  
“Welcome to my abode, make yourselves at home.”

_And he rhymes too. What an.....interesting choice._

He ushered us into a larger room where we found a sight that made me gulp. A large table set with teapots, crumpets, biscuits, teacups, it was a tea party times ten. It gave me a sense of deja-long-term-special-interest

“Please have a seat,” he offered us with a little demanding tone in his voice.

Hesitantly, the two of us sat down, Alice in the big red throne chair at their end of the table, and me right next to her.

“This is quite a treat,” he chuckled as he sat across from Alice.

“A treat?” Alice asked with a tremble in her voice.

“Being isolated in these tulgy woods doesn’t offer the luxury of company as you can see. I insist you drink some tea.”

There was something about him that made us both feel uneasy, I could tell particularly for Alice. The man wouldn’t take his eye off of her. The two of us looked down at our cups, and I took a hesitant sip, but gagged as soon as I tasted it; it was green tea. I absolutely can't deal with drinking green tea, and now it was all over the table.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized hastily as I grabbed a napkin.  
“Do you have peppermint tea by chance?”

“Will you, won’t you join the dance?” he responded quietly as he stared longingly at Alice.

“I’m sorry?” Alice asked, her face contorting into a confused, and semi-frightened, expression.

Suddenly he seemed to snap back into reality.

“Oh, peppermint tea?” he gasped.  
“Yes, indeed. Have a snack. I shall be back.”

He darted off into the kitchen, but before he could, I caught sight of a tag on his head, one that read _In this style 10/6_.

 _Now I KNOW something's up._  

Once he was gone, I leaned over to Alice.

“I think we should go now," I whispered urgently.

“But we haven’t gotten the stuff we needed.”

“At this rate, I feel like he’s not gonna give us the stuff. Alice, doesn’t this all seem familiar?”

“All this?” she repeated questioningly.

_Why is she NOT understanding?_

“The clock motifs, the tea party, the key with the pocket watch, the rhyming, tulgy woods, ‘will you, won’t you join the dance,’ him staring at you. I think he’s under some sort of delusion, I could even go so far as to say spell, to think he’s the Mad Hatter.”

“You’re talking about the nice one from the classic Disney movie, right?” Alice squeaked fearfully as sweat beaded down her forehead.

I shook my head regretfully.

“I have a feeling this isn’t even Tim-Burton-style Mad Hatter, but instead DC universe Mad Hatter, more specifically Gotham Mad Hatter.”

“That’s bad, right?”

I nodded solemnly.

“And what’s worse is that he could match up to Penelope. If this is just like the DC/Gotham Mad Hatter, then this man is extremely gifted in hypnosis and mind control.”

Hearing this, Alice’s stomach jumped in fright.

“Does he have any weaknesses?”

“I wish I knew.”

All of a sudden, we heard a knock on the door.

“Hello?” a muffled voice called out.  
“Is anyone home? I would like to know where the nearest watch shop is. It seems that my pocket watch broke.”

_Well, speak of the devil._

We turned to look at each other and nodded. We tried to get up when all of a sudden, Alice was being pushed back by restraints, and I felt myself restrained as well. Panicking, I tried to break myself out when a malicious chuckle came from the doorway. There stood the man in the hat with a remote in one hand.

“Thought that I was someone you could deceive. I thought that you would likely try to leave.”

Was I so incredibly paralyzed as the man clipped towards us. He leaned down to the trembling Alice and tilted her chin up, staring into her eyes.

_Dude, don't even try!_

“I’ve finally found you, my dear,” he sighed lovingly.  
“Now I’ll make sure that you never leave here.”

I saw him reach out in an attempt to pet her and my stomach began twisting in knots when----

_RAP RAP RAP!_

“No one’s home! No one’s home!” he called out before turning back to us, particularly to me.

_Oh sweet Jesus, please save me._

As he advanced on me, my go-to tactic was to try being threatening, holding my ground, but, uh, keyword; tried. Instead, that only prompted chuckling from him.

“You were going to be my Alice as you first had me smitten," he purred as his face closed in on mine.  
"But I think you’d fit better as her cute little kitten. Or perhaps there’s a slight mischievous streak in that.”

He quickly tapped me on my head.

“So maybe I’ll turn you into the Cheshire Cat. And yet I feel your elegance remains to be seen, so another good option would be the White Queen.”

_I'd rather stay as me, thank you very much!_

RAP RAP RAP!

“Leave us alone! Leave us alone!” he called out.  
“Perhaps someone’s come here to throw you a bone.”

_Uh, yeah. I sure hope they have!_

“I demand that I see someone at once!” Penelope’s voice called out.

Hearing this, the man dropped the remote in shock, which landed in my lap.

“No, it can’t be,” he gasped.

As he rushed to the door, I took the opportunity to release myself and then Alice from our confines. Pressing the big button released the claws. Alice jumped up as the man opened the door.

“Oh thank God!” Penelope huffed.  
“I was wondering if you could---“

She looked up at the man and their eyes met, both sets growing wide.

“Penelope Dowry,” he breathed.

“Horace?” she gasped in shock.  
“Is that…..is that really you?”

Cautiously he took ahold of her hand. She showed no resistance as he gently clasped it.

“You don’t look a day over twenty. How long has it been?” she exclaimed quietly with a hint of fondness in her voice.  
“Must have been……a decade since I last saw you.”

“Perhaps so, but it felt like an eternity to me,” he smiled lovingly.

“You two…..know each other?” I pondered confused.

Penelope, hearing this, turned to us.

“Oh, there you are!” she gasped.  
“Everyone at the campsite is worried about you. And yes, Horace and I were classmates at the academy when we were training our hypnosis. He and I were…..rather close. He is a very sweet young man.”

_Excuse me?_

“Sweet?” I nearly yelled infuriated.  
“Sweet? He just tried to hold us captive because he’s obsessed with Alice in Wonderland.”

Hearing this, Penelope turned back to him and sighed hopelessly. She seemed creepily unfazed by the whole bit about us  _being kidnapped by an obsessive man._

“Horace, I thought you’d gotten past that."

“After you left, I relapsed,” he cried.  
“I use the story to cope. Surely you can't blame me for that!"

“Coping is fine, and I don't blame you for that,” Penelope told him.  
“But you’re taking it to an unhealthy level.”

“But I don’t have to anymore,” he laughed.  
“You’re back now. Please tell me you’re back to stay.”

I was shocked to see genuine sadness and regret in Penelope’s face. That woman came off as shallow to me at first, but clearly there was some depth.

“I’m…..I’m so sorry, Horace,” she sighed.  
“But I can’t stay.”

His face fell, crestfallen. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a little sorry for him. In spite of what he did, he just wanted someone to love.

“Oh,” he replied quietly.  
“I understand.”

Nodding, she gestured to Alice and me.

“We found wood that lasts for the fire.”

We turned and left the crestfallen timekeeper, staring longingly.


	2. Around the Campfire

Making it back to the campsite, Alice and I both were swarmed by the other writers.

“What happened?” Ciel panted.

“Where were you?” Kasey exclaimed.

“Are you hurt?” Tristen growled.  
“Do I need to pummel someone?”

“We’re fine. We’re fine,” I assured them.

I looked over at Ines who seemed to have separated herself from the group.

“What’s up with her?” I asked Nora.

“She’s been aloof since you took charge,” she replied.

“I didn’t take charge.”

“She thinks otherwise.”

“Do you think she’s insecure?” I asked.  
“This seems like how I’ve reacted to my friends who’ve gotten cast in show and I haven’t. Her behavior seems too familiar. Maybe she’s not the traitor like I thought.”

“I don’t know, but she’s refusing to talk to anyone.”

Suddenly she got up and strode over in our direction.

“Oh, speak of the devil,” Nora whispered.

“Well,” she sniffed.  
“I guess you’re finally back. It took you long enough.”

“Hello to you too,” I replied as kindly as I could manage

“We found the wood, no thanks to you—“

“I need to talk to you in private,” I interrupted, not wanting things to escalate anymore than they already had.  
“Please.”

Ines stared at me in disbelief before rolling her eyes.

“Whatever, make it quick.”

I decided to take her on a small stroll by a lake nearby. The birds were tweeting as the sun just barely poked through the clouds. Eventually I found a log to sit on: now was the tim to take this opportunity.

“Have a seat,” I offered.

“No thanks,” Ines sniffed cynically

I could tell she was bracing herself for the barrage of yelling, but I wasn't about to do that. Sure, I was annoyed at her behavior, but I also knew yelling didn’t get anyone anywhere.

“Is there something you’re feeling insecure about?”

Ines was taken aback by the bluntness of the question, so she took a while to formulate a response.

“No,” she scoffed.  
“Why?”

I took a deep breath.

“I’m gonna tell you something,” I said gently.  
"Whenever I feel insecure, I often feel jealous of those who have something I don't---"

“What’s your point?” she asked dryly.

 _Wow. Not one to beat around the bush, I see._  
  
“My point is that what you’re doing is a lot like how I’ve reacted to my own insecurity. I was wondering if that was why you seem so aloof towards me.”

“No,” she replied without hesitation.

After a moment of silence, I shrugged and stood up.

“Okay.”

I turned to walk back to camp.

“That’s all you’ve got to say?” Ines called out in a tone, not of intimidation, but of curiosity.

“Yup,” I replied, not exactly satisfied with the answer, but it was better than nothing.

I turned back around and began walking towards camp.

“Wait,” Ines called out again with a pinch of regret and guilt in her voice.

Mystic came to a halt as Ines sighed.

“You’re right,” she admitted as I turned around and walked back over to her.  
“I do feel a bit insecure. I don’t see how what you’re dealing with is a fucking problem. You have a god chasing after you, one who is madly in love with you, and yet you’re complaining while the rest of us are watching from the sidelines with nothing.”

This took a moment to register in my mind.

“I’m sorry you see it that way. I can imagine that it might look that way to someone not directly involved, but I assure you; it IS bad. I feel trapped, and I think you’d feel the same way in my shoes.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“I’m……..I’m sorry too,” Ines huffed sadly.  
“I shouldn’t have been so passive-aggressive.”

“I accept your apology,” I told her.  
“And I’d be happy to help if you need to work on your insecurity. Maybe we could work on it together."

Ines smiled kindly.

“Okay.”

“But now I think we’d better head to camp.”

And the two of us walked back.

* * *

For the rest of the night, we were all pretty content. We’d scrounged up enough for a meal and even a slight dessert. We even sang a few campfire songs. Or rather Matt sang a lot of Broadway songs. I was seriously tempted to join in, because hello? Theatre major here. Broadway's one of my goals. But I was still scared of people hearing me sing, particularly after the talent show.

“Why don’t we tell ghost stories?” Nora suggested.  
“We’re all pretty creative people. I’m sure we could come up with something. Taylor? You wanna start?”

“Nah,” Taylor denied.  
“What about you, Alice?”

“I’ll pass. What about you, Stella?”

“No. I think Mystic should tell a story.”

There was a murmur of agreement, and they all turned to me. Now here was something I was a little more comfortable in, but only a little. I thought it over, and finally decided on something, maybe slightly deceptive but also really fucking cool.

“Okay,” I smirked picking up some sticks and dirt.  
“Let’s see. Ah. Here we go. Oh, actually, before we begin, fun fact: did you all know that this forest is cursed?”

Eyes widened as they shook their heads. I could see some of them lean forward a little and I knew I had them hooked.

“Yeah. You know, we’re not too far from Paramount Ranch, and just a few miles beyond that is Everlock. Paramount’s had some ghosts. But legend has it that some of those ghosts have ended up within these very woods.”

I threw the sticks and dirt into the fire.

* * *

_The sets of Paramount Ranch are pretty old, so you’d think those would be the dangerous spots, right?_

_Wrong._

_It’s the Paramount Ranch Racetrack that is the sight for the most fatalities. In a single weekend in December of 1957, three drivers lost their lives on that very track. Their names were unknown._

_Sources say that each driver has been seen traversing these forests at one point or another. One group of teenagers were camping out in these woods during the summer of ‘75; they never came back. When authorities went to look for them, all they found was a camera with a few photos scattered around the forest grounds._

_The photos showed the teens and they all seemed pretty normal at first; there was a picture of a girl and her boyfriend making out on a boat, another was a boy hanging from a high branch, normal teen stuff. But then they got to the last pictures; each one became more and more grotesque. Some had their jaws dislocate from their faces. Others had their necks snapped. One pictures showed a girl with rusty nails in her eyes, throat, hands, and feet. She was hammered up against a tree with her mouth open mid-scream and blood gushing from her impaled eyes. A final photo showed the girl nailed to the tree and the rest of them lying on the forest floor by their now-dead campfire, right around this area, in fact. Authorities originally thought it was just a prank, but if that was true, then why weren’t the bodies there?_

* * *

As I finished, there were a few people who weren’t phased too much, but others were trembling.

“Well, I’m not gonna sleep tonight,” Kasey trembled.

“What about the ghost story?” Stella asked.

“That WAS the ghost story,” I shrugged with a smirk

“Okay, that’s not fair,” Taylor frowned.  
“You’ve scared about half of us cuz you acted like you were telling us a fact about Paramount Ranch at first.”

“I’ve been writing for some time. I kinda like setting it up that way.”

“I don’t really believe in ghosts,” Penelope scoffed.  
“But I did get a bit of a chill when you talked about the girl nailed to the tree.”

“That….that didn’t actually happen?” Ciel shivered.

“Of course not,” I answered.  
“Well, at least the second part. The first part, the one about the racetrack fatalities, IS true, as far as I know.”

“Well, I think I’ve had enough ghost stories for the night,” Sunny blathered, terrified.  
“Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Sleep?” Alice laughed.  
“I don’t know her, not after that story.”

“That’s a mood,” Nora agreed.

“Hey,” I laughed as we each got into our sleeping bags.  
“It was YOUR idea to tell ghost stories.”

“Touche.”

“Everyone comfortable?” Safiya asked, her sleeping bag on my left and Ro’s on my right.

A general chorus of “yeah” and “what is comfort?” rippled through us.

“Good night,” Ro called as Matt settled in to his bag on her right.


	3. Nighttime Steals

Alice tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. She could not, for the life of her, doze off. That ghost story, along with the run-in with Horace and the fact that her best friend was still in danger, made it difficult for her to sleep.

Huffing, she decided to take a walk, hoping that would tire her out. Grabbing a flashlight, she nearly screamed when she felt a gloved hand grab it as well.

“Sorry,” Penelope apologized.  
“Didn’t mean to startle you, dear.”

“Oh,” she breathed a sigh of relief.  
“I’m just….I’m having trouble sleeping. I was gonna talk a walk.”

“Funny. I was planning to do the same thing. Follow me. I want to show you something I found.”

She led Alice through a thorny brush into a little clearing. She lifted up a rock to find several dozen small rocks in the shape of teapots.

“What are those?”

“Teastones,” Penelope whispered.  
“Created by the Society’s early alchemists to grant wishes in order to decrease poverty. Legend has it they’ve been buried and scattered throughout Everlock as well as nearby it. Each stone equals one wish. Once the wish is made, the rock turns into dust only to be absorbed by the soil. Legend also has it that if enough dust settles into a particular plot of soil, combined with water, it will sprout a Wish Blossom. And if you turn the blossom into pure liquid and drink it, well, no one knows what happens.”

“Why not?”

“No one’s dared to try to grow one in the first place. Goodness only knows why. If they have, there’s no record of it. Only stories from the medieval and renaissance times, including one of Lydia Waverly.

Lydia Waverly. That name sounded familiar.

“Do you…..know anything about Lydia Waverly?” Alice inquired.

Penelope wracked her brain for a moment.

“Very little. Unfortunately, there seem to be little to no records of her. There are some people who claimed she never even existed. I pity them. Such limited knowledge.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lydia Waverly DID exist, but time rewrote itself to make it so that she never existed. It explains those things like the ‘Magic mirror on the wall’ quote and the monocle on the Monopoly man. What do you call those?”

“The Mandela Effect?”

“Yes, that’s it. The Mandela Effect. When something like what happened to her happens, then time rewrites itself so that that person never existed. But as a consequence, other things also change. Lydia Waverly once existed.”

“What happened to her that made time rewrite itself?”

Penelope shrugged.

“Some say she dabbled in pagan rituals and one went wrong. Others say it was divine intervention. But I think it was her own death that rewrote time.”

“Her own death? What do you mean?”

“It’s rather complex to explain right now. For one, because there’s so little written about her, a lot of what we have about her is merely conjecture.”

“Oh,” Alice said.  
“So are you gonna do anything with these?”

Penelope gave a smirk.

“Well, I was thinking that we make history.”

“How?”

“We create the first recorded instance of the Wish Blossom and the very first instance of someone consuming it.”

“But what if it’s fatal?” Alice panicked.  
“We could kill one of them!”

“Not exactly my problem,” Penelope shrugged.  
“And even if so, we could simply wish it wasn’t. In fact…”

She picked up one of the stones.

“I wish to grow the Wish Blossom tonight.”

The stone glowed gold before dissolving into dust. Penelope let it slip between her gloved fingers into the soil. Pushing aside the rock, she picked up the rest of the teastones before pulling out a bag and [stuffing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42614441#) all but one in it. She took the one and said

“I wish that the Wish Blossom would provide a positive effect to the one who drinks it.”

The stone glowed gold and turned into dust.

“There,” Penelope announced with finality.  
“Happy?”

“Not exactly. And neither am I reassured. I don't understand how this'll work or even if it WILL work.”

“You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“I AM older and I still don’t understand.”

Penelope giggled.

“You sound just like I did when I was your age.”

“How? You’re like, what, 15? 16?”

“I’m [ageless](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42614441#).”

Alice huffed in frustration as Penelope tried to make another wish when suddenly, they heard rustling in the nearby bushes. The hairs on Alice’s arms stood on end.

“What was that?” she squeaked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good.”

“Oh. You think?” Alice whispered harshly.

Another rustle caused Alice to jump, her [teeth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42614441#) clacking in her jaws. Was Mystic wrong? Was that ghost story real? All of a sudden, she heard a maddened giggle and even Penelope froze.

“Alice,” she snapped softly.  
“Get back to the campgrounds now.”

“Why?”

“Just go.”

Alice pursed her lips in anger.

“No,” she retaliated.  
“I’m staying here. I’m not gonna let another friend of mine die.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but I’m afraid this is no time to be heroic. You really NEED to go before---“

All of a sudden, a figure jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Penelope from behind. As she struggled, the figure held a cloth to her nose and throat. She attempted to fight back, but to no avail, and soon her body slumped in his arms.

Alice’s heart pounded wildly. Before she could run, the figure lunged out and grabbed hold of her. She tried to scream out for help, but the figure had whipped out another cloth and held it over her mouth and nose. It smelled rather strange and sweet. And it was making her sleepy.

 _Oh no!_ she thought before she too fell into a dreamlike state.

* * *

The next morning, I was the first one up and out of my sleeping bag. It was relatively nice out, so I supposed that a walk wouldn't be too dangerous. I walked around for a bit before coming to a clearing. By a turned-over rock, I saw this strangely beautiful flower growing, a flashlight, and a small, red, velvet, pull string bag. Curiously I picked it up and shook it, hearing little clicking sounds coming from within. Opening it, I saw at least three or four dozen stones shaped like teapots, as well as a piece of paper. After putting the bag in my suit pocket, I picked up the note and read it to myself. My stomach churned as I read, but I couldn't take it much longer. I let out a blood-curdling scream.

Immediately Matt, Safiya, Ro, and the writers were at my side. It was actually kind of scary how little time that took.

“What’s wrong?” Safiya barked in a panic.

Without a word, I just handed the note to her before running off to find two of my friends. What I had read was short, but horrific:

_“My dear Mystic,_

_I have custody of your little friend and my queen of hearts. Should you wish to see them again, bring everyone alive to my cottage. You know which one it is, my dear.”_

_Fondly,_

_Horace._


	4. How Do You Get To Wonderland?

I dashed past various spots of greenery, my heart racing, as the others kept calling out for her to stop. But I refused. I kept on trudging and running; I was NOT going to let this madman hold them captive. The fear on Alice’s face from yesterday was still embedded in my mind, and it wouldn’t let go of my conscience. I had to save them both.

All of a sudden, I felt a firm but gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Let go!” I barked violently determined.  
“I have to save them. This guy is dangerous."

“The note said that everyone alive has to come,” Safiya informed her.  
“We have to go with you.”

Pulling myself away, I huffed at them

“You don’t know this man like I do,” I trembled.  
“This guy’s psychotic, certifiably delusional. He has a major obsession with  _Alice in Wonderland._ ”

“You mean, like the Mad Hatter in  _Gotham_?” Nora wondered.

“Exactly like him. He even rhymes. RHYMES! I can’t make this up. He will rhyme almost all the time.”

Hearing that last sentence made my [stomach](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42672713#) jump.

“Shit. It’s getting to me,” I groaned fearfully as I power-strolled towards the madman’s teapot home.  
“We gotta save them!”

* * *

 

Alice’s head throbbed as everything started to almost rise her into a conscious state. While this was happening, she heard an echoing rhyme whispered in her ears.

_Wake up, wake up, pretty dear._

_How I welcome you back here._

_And I welcome you to stay_

_As we greet this brand new day._

_So come get up, no time to lose._

_Dear Mystic’s coming, she’ll have to choose._  

* * *

 

Startled, Alice tried to pull herself out of her stupor, but her mind almost jerked her consciousness back. As she reluctantly took her time to recover from her encounter from the night before, her eyes fluttered open and she was seeing double. Having to work to adjust her vision, Alice managed to focus on a single steaming pot of tea, or rather two. Once the two pots became one, she slowly became more deeply aware of her senses.

Taste. There was none.

Smell. She could smell various teas and pastries, freshly baked.

Sight. There were a lot of wild patterns, fantastical colors, strange silhouettes, and a tea party table.

Sound. She heard a kettle bubbling nearby and a cuckoo clock going off, signaling that it was about 9 am.

Touch. Touch was what made her shiver.

There was a man caressing her face slowly.

A shiver ran through her body. Her stomach churned as she wished that she was still out cold, she prayed that some mysterious force would strike her back into an unconscious stupor. Tears formed in her eyes and her throat felt as though it was closing up.

She also felt something on her body. Looking down, she was horrified to find not just ropes binding her to her chair, but also that she was dressed in an Alice costume. And she could simply tell-from the feeling of its material directly on her skin-that her pajamas had been removed while she was out cold.

Her face lost all color as her stomach churned like clothes in a washing machine. Not only was this man under such an extravagant delusion, but he had also undressed her himself without consent. Alice hoped that this was only an inference, but when she spotted her pajamas folded up nicely on a nightstand nearby, she discovered that this may likely just be wishful thinking on her part.

“You’re awake,” Horace whispered in her ear.  
“I’m so glad.”

Slowly he crept to the front of her, inspecting her up and down. A smirk slowly rolled up his face.

“Yes,” he chuckled maddened with satisfaction.  
“You are perfectly suited to this role. This Wonderland’s in my control. But I needed another to play her part. And your friend Mystic had stolen my heart. Her face is sweet and aura's pure. Adorable, and quite demure. But why change her name when someone else will do? Especially someone whose name will stay true?”

On her right, Penelope groaned as her head rose.

“What in the world?” she groaned as she opened her eyes.

Like Alice, she had to spend some time adjusting. While she did this, Horace walked back around, picked up a warm teacup filled with tea and held it to her mouth.

“Drink this,” he whispered.

Alice pursed her lips as she dropped her head to her chest. Horace gave a telling chuckle.

“Stubborn one, aren’t we? I [guess](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42672713#) we’ll have to see.”

All of a sudden, she heard the sound of a pocket watch ticking in front of her. She knew exactly what it was.

“Listen. Can you hear the clock? How its ticking is synchronizing with your heartbeat?”

If she weren’t tied up, she would be able to not, would be able to cover her ears, but she DID hear it. And it DID synchronize with her heartbeat. And now

“Nothing else. Just the ticking, synchronizing with your heartbeat.”

And so help her God, if she wasn’t about to pass out right the fuck now, she would’ve wanted to hit her head on……..anything in the room. She tried to hit her head against the table, but he, once again without consent, touched her. He placed his hand against her head, grasped her hair, and gently yanked her head up to meet his eyes.

“Look into my eyes,” he lulled.  
“Not around them, not above them, but deep into their centers.”

_Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it._

But she could not, for the life of her, look away from the centers of his eyes. There were no swirls like in the classic sci-fi/horror films. There was nothing visual. It was just like…….a magnetic pull. An invisible force keeping her hooked onto his eyes. One that made her feel both calm and terrified.

“Now [sleep](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42672713#),” he ordered softly.

And her eyes locked shut. Her consciousness turned off, but she found herself looking into…..nothingness.

No thoughts, no sensations, nothing.

She couldn’t turn away. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t even blink.

But she could hear, at least she could when she heard a familiar voice whisper

_Alice. You’re back._

Back?

_Yes. Back in Wonderland._

All of a sudden, a strange array of flora and fauna appeared.

_And you have your dress on. The blue dress. The white front. The black headband with the bow. White tights. Blonde hair. Your lovely black dress shoes._

She felt it appear upon her body.

_And that lovely high British dialect._

She felt her vocal cords shift.

_We’ve been waiting for you. It’s the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the dormouse. Your best friends._

Joy filled her.

_Come and join us. Our tea party._

All of a sudden, she heard someone snap their fingers. She opened her eyes and smiled as she saw her best friends.

“Would you care for some more tea, my dear Alice?” the Mad Hatter asked softly.

“Oh yes! Please,” she replied joyfully in her dialect as she held out her tea cup, blissfully unaware that she was not herself.


	5. Madder Than a Hatter

As soon as Penelope saw Alice slumped in her chair, her heart began to palpitate in fear. And when Alice woke up, seeing a glaze in her eyes, it only made her more frightened. She was normally not the type to be very scared, as a matter of fact there were very few things in this world that made her feel truly terrified. However, seeing Alice helplessly entranced by his power was enough to make her fear for her life as well as the lives of the other writers and the YouTubers.

“Horace, what have you done to Alice?”

 Upon hearing her voice, the clockmaker turns to her and chuckled sinisterly

“Why, I’ve turned her back into herself, my dear.”

“This is not what Alice is like and you know it.”

“That’s what those pesky writers made her think. They wanted to take her away from me, away from us, away from our Wonderland.”

“This isn’t you Horace.  What happened to the sweet young man at the academy? That sweet young man I fell for? That I dated?”

Slowly his feet clicked against the floor as he walked over to her side.

“He’s still here right in front of your very eyes, those beautiful, beautiful eyes of yours.”

He reached out to caress her cheek but she flinched.

“Please,” she squeaked very softly.  
“Don’t.”

Horace pulled back looking quite saddened by her lack of compassion.  Or at least compassion was how he saw it.

“I trust you’ll get used to this in time,” he declared with certainty.  
“After all of this is where you and I are going to be living.  No longer will it be just you or just I. It will be always us, just as we were at the academy, only this time in matrimony.”

 Penelope gave him a look that was a mixture of disgust, fear, and confusion.

“M-matrimony?” she trembled.  
“Who says I’m going to marry you?”

“You have no other option,” he snapped.

 Suddenly he heard a loud rapping on his front door.  He chuckled and smirked.

“Right on cue.  I must leave you two.  I’ll attend to our guests. You two be your bests.”

 And out of his secret lair he went.

* * *

“Horace!” I screeched as I banged my fists against the door, practically making a dent.  
“Horace, open up. I know you have Alice and Penelope!”

After what seemed like hours, he finally opened.

“Mystic, my dear. How lovely to have you here,” he chuckled.

“And these are the others. Your sisters and brothers.”

In spite of her height, I could tell that Ro was the first one he spotted.

“Well, what do we have here?” he smiled with a mix of endearment and malice.  
“It’s seems that there’s a fairy near.”

He reached out and tried to grab her hair.

 _Oh hell no!_ I slapped his hand before he could even come near her.

“Don’t you dare touch her, or any of us!”

“Where’s Penelope!” Erica snapped.

“Where’s Alice?” Ines demanded.

We all rushed inside when we heard a door slam and a lock click. We turned to see Horace with a key. Stuffing the key into his coat, he took out a shotgun, and we all began to tremble. 

_Fuck. Are we about to die?_

“Welcome to what may very well be your final days of running,” he chuckled as he back us up to a bookshelf.

Slowly, and just my luck, he crept over to me, reaching out and touching my face. I flinched as his thumb began to pet my cheek.

“You seem much like an Alice to me. Perhaps I’ll make two, or even three.”

And then this man did something that not even I expected.

He quickly leaned in and placed a kiss right in the center of my forehead.

My fucking forehead! 

I was shocked and I felt extremely violated. Thank _God_ it wasn't the lips. At that moment, Horace reached behind us and pull out a red book. There was a click and then the book shelf slowly opened.

_A secret entrance. Huh._

“After you, my dear,” he whispered seductively into my ear.n

_Can you fucking not?_

Wanting to get away from the creep more than pretty much anything else, I bolted downstairs to find Alice and Penelope at some sort of tea table.

“Mystic!” Penelope shrieked in relief.  
“Thank God, you’re here. He’s got Alice under his control.”

As the rest of the group made their way down, I turned to see a glossy-eyed Alice.

“Alice,” I gasped.  
“We’re here to rescue you.”

“Rescue? I don’t need to be rescued,” she replied innocently in a British dialect.  
“I’m safe with all of my friends, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the dormouse.”

_Okay, she's lost it._

"Saf, help me out here."

"Sure. You take Penelope and I'll get Alice out."

Safiya and I reached into our pockets and pulled out knives. Safiya went to work on Alice who was giggling innocently yet maddened with glee as she sang  _Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat_ to herself while tilting her head like a metronome while the other writers did and said whatever they could to try to snap her out of this.

Meanwhile, I set to work cutting through Penelope’s ropes. One snap was all it took for her to be free, thank goodness. Just as Penelope stood up, Horace appeared with a malicious grin. I immediately wanted to shrink into a ball and fade from existence.

“Well, well, well, I do see,” he chuckled as he approached me.  
“My Alice has returned to me.”

_I'm sorry. What?_

“You said you were going to make her Alice,” I remarked suspiciously.

“That, my dear, is up to you. It is here I offer you an exchange; agree to be my Mad Hattress, my dear Alice, and I shall let her go. Or you can refuse, and I’ll slaughter ten of the people in this room at random. Once they’re dead, I’ll then choose ten of those alive to drink the blood from their draining corpses---“

“Horace!” Penelope snapped.  
“Stop being so morbid. There must be another way.”

_Thank God for Penelope having common sense._

It felt like an eternity before he seemed to come up with an idea.

“The Tri Trial,” he announced.

“Tri Trial?” I puzzled.

“It was what we called exams at the academy,” Penelope clarified.  
“We had three tests to pass each time. If you passed, you were free to go home while those with the lower scores had to stay behind and complete another term.”

“Yes,” he gasped.  
“The Tri Trial. I like that. But in order to make this fair….”

He whirled on Alice and snapped his fingers.

“Now sleep.”

Her head slumped over to her chest.

“When I count to three and snap my fingers, you will wake up and turn back to the way you were before. All of the memories of Wonderland are gone for now, you will awaken as who you were when I kidnapped you. One, two, three.”

He snapped his fingers and Alice jerked her head up.

“What? What’s going on?” she asked frantically, but thankfully in her standard dialect, as Stella helped Safiya remove the rest of the rope from around her.  
“Mystic? Nora? Dooper?”

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Everyone in Between and Everyone who is Nowhere,” Horace announced.  
“I declare this Wonderland Tri Trial to commence.”


	6. Poetic Recall

After a few minutes, it seemed that Horace had everything set up.

“I’ve been preparing for a Tri Trial like this ever since I left the academy,” he panted maddened with excitement.

He then took out a piece of paper and did a headcount.

“Everyone line up.”

We did as we were told. Or else we'd probably be killed and no one likes to be killed. I'm sure it's not very fun.

“Now, this Tri Trial shall consist of three tests, obviously. Those of you who make or succeed my expectations will be [awarded](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42680348#) points. Those who do not will be given no [points](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42680348#). There are only four rules:

  1. You are not allowed to work together. 
  2. No penalization will be given for wrong answers.
  3. Points are given for right answers
  4. If you attempt to leave, you forfeit your life.



“At the end, there will be three score groups. Those who had the ten highest scores will win their freedom immediately. Those in the middle group will earn their freedom after a few weeks. Those whose scores are found in the bottom of the barrel will be mine forever. Understood?”

_Oh great. Just what this whole thing needed._

“Good. Now this first trial is known as Poetic Recall. I have three poems that are associated with Wonderland. You have each been assigned a poem. The objective is to recite your assigned poem from memory to the best of your ability. If you forget a line, just hum through it until you get to what you remember next.

“I have already chosen your poems. Before we begin, a final rule for this trial; you are not allowed to tell anyone what poem you were assigned.”

A moment of silence hung in the air.

“Let the Tri Trial commence,” he declared.

And so it began.

* * *

The first one he called was Arya. Trembling, she followed Horace upstairs. As soon as he shut the doors, I felt a churning in my stomach as I bit down on my lip and began crying.

“Mystic?” Ro asked worried.  
“What’s wrong?”

It took me a little time to gather my thoughts.

“This…..this is all my fault.”

“No,” Alice sighed.  
“It’s mine. If I had listened to Penelope---“

“If I hadn’t talked with Horace in the first place,” I blurted out.  
“We wouldn’t even be here.”

“Both of you, enough,” Penelope snapped kindly.  
“There’s no use arguing over who is at fault. We’re here now. Let’s just focus on staying positive.”

“I’m with Penelope on this,” Ro agreed.

I sighed. I couldn't even bear to look.

I heard little exchanges as the time dwindled down.

“How did it go?” Arya wondered.

“I think I blew it,” Stella laughed nervously as he called Sequoia next.

Time went on as more of us were being called, the numbers whittling down, and yet it still felt like an eternity. God, just get me over and done with already!

“Did Tri Trials at your academy really take this long?” Celeste asked Penelope 

“Sometimes longer,” she replied nonchalantly.

I just couldn’t keep myself still. Even daydreaming couldn't bar away my anxiety. It’d been ages since I [read](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42680348#)  _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland._ How the hell would I be able to remember the poetry?

I tried to remember what poems might be associated with the story. The first one that came to my mind was  _Jabberwocky._

_Okay, that's one I'm pretty confident on._

The other two, on the other hand, not so much. If I had to hazard a [guess](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768489/chapters/42680348#), it was going to be either  _The Quadrille, The Walrus and the Carpenter,_ or  _You Are Old, Father William._ I just prayed that luck would work in my favor, or it would end up with an eternity with that creep.

* * *

Matt was called up soon after, and I wasn't really worried. This was a guy who skipped school lunch to learn new things, who got the highest score on the SAT. If he could pass, at least he could find a way to rescue the rest of us.

“How was it?” Ro asked.

“I felt pretty good about it, honestly," he told us.

“But, like, you’re Matpat,” Arya pointed out.  
“Of course you’re gonna get a high score.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not impressive,” Erica shrugged.

“I agree,” I added.

A few moments later, I heard more footsteps.

“How was it?” Haven wondered.

“I…….I couldn’t remember most of it,” someone whimpered as I heard Erica being called.

Later.

“I thought I’d do better,” I heard Silvia explain as Shiloh was called next.

“There’re still two trials to go,” Montana said.  
“You could probably pick your score back up in those.”

I could sense the tension rising, especially in myself. I still hadn’t been called, and neither had Alice. Was he saving us for last? Was he trying to torture us as punishment for running away? Honestly I had no fucking idea.

Seconds became minutes, minutes seemed to become hours. More and more of us were coming back either relieved or devastated, and it didn’t surprise me, not even a little. Our freedom was at stake, and if we tried to leave, it’d be the end for all of us.

“Mystic,” Horace finally called.  
“It’s your turn, my dear.”

_Oh fuck._

I froze for a moment, but I couldn't delay it much longer. After taking a deep breath, I followed him upstairs.

* * *

The walk up to the parlor seemed rather long. He took me to the tea table upstairs and sat me down in the red velvet chair Alice had been sitting in the day prior, which only made me feel more uneasy; he situated himself to my left.

“I have a feeling you’re rather familiar with the story of  _Alice,_ are you not?”

I shrugged.

“I mean, it’s been a while since I read it,” I replied shamefully.  
“But I hope I’ll do alright.”

“I’m sure you will,” he said.  
“Now, your assigned poem is  _Jabberwocky.”_

_Huh?_

I wasn't sure if I heard that right.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.  
“The assigned poem is  _Jabberwocky._ ”

Oh thank God! I knew  _Jabberwocky_ like the back of my hand. But there had to be some way I could make this stand out even more.

“Would it be alright if I stood?” I asked politely.

He gave me a small nod.

Clearing her throat and standing up, I decided that I might as well make it fun, employing emotion and gestures, turning it into sort of an interpretive piece as I recited.

 _“‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves_  
_did gyre and gimble in the wabe._  
_All mimsy were the borogoves  
_ _And the mome raths outgrabe._

 _Beware the jabberwock, my son._  
_The jaws that bite, the claws that catch._  
_Beware the jubjub bird, and shun  
_ _The frumious Bandersnatch._

 _He took his vorpal sword in hand._  
_Long time the manxome foe he sought_  
_So rested he by the tum-tum tree  
_ _And stood a while in thought._

 _And as in uffish thought he stood_  
_The jabberwock with eyes of flame_  
_Came whiffling through the tulgey wood  
_ _And burbled as it came_

 _One, two. One, two! And through and through_  
_The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!_  
_He left it dead, and with its head  
_ _He went galumphing back._

 _And hast thou slain the jabberwock?_  
_Come to my arms, my beamish boy._  
_O frabjous day, callooh, callay!  
_ _He chortled in his joy._

 _‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves_  
_did gyre and gimble in the wabe._  
_All mimsy were the borogoves  
_ _And the mome raths outgrabe.”_

I felt a little silly, but hell, if this was what it was going to take to earn my freedom, why not? When I was finished, Horace seemed...shocked.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized confused and slightly uneasy.   
“Is there something wrong?”

“No,” he gasped in awe as he led me to the bookcase.  
“Nothing wrong at all.”

Heading back down, I had the wind knocked out of me in the form of a chest-squeezing hug from Ro.

“How did it go?” Matt asked eagerly.

As soon as I was able to catch my breath, I spoke as Penelope was called.

“He…….he……” I tried to explain, still shocked by his reaction.  
“He seemed pretty shocked, for some reason.”

Ignoring the others, I went over to a couch in the far corner and turned my back towards the group, losing myself in thought.


	7. The Second and Third Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things begin to come to a close.

After some time, he came back and ordered us all to line up.

“Now onto the second trial,” he declared.  
“This one is  _Wonderland Trivia._ When your name is called, I shall lead you to the parlor and ask you a series of questions relating to the novel and/or the author himself.”

People started getting called up, but the names just blurred together for me. I tried to zone out, but soon it was my turn. I tried to stay as far away from him as possible. Once again I was sat in the same chair.

_Okay, I can do this. Right?_

“First question; what was Lewis Carroll’s name?”

For a split second, I thought it was a trick question. But I knew better.

_He went under a different name!_

“Charles Ludwig Dodgson,” I answered.

“Who was the basis for the titular character?”

“A little girl with the same name that he knew.”

At this point, most of the answers came flying from my mouth with little hesitation.

“What profession was he in?”

“He taught mathematics, I believe.”

“In what year was  _Through the Looking Glass_ published?”

“1872? Or is it 1865?”

“Which is it?”

_Shit._

“I guess…….1872.”

“In the novel, the poem  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning_ can be found in what of the novel?”

“Chapter 12.”

“Why was this poem present?”

“As evidence of the knave stealing the Queen’s tarts.”

“In the Pool of Tears, Alice mentions a historical figure which she associates with the mouse. Who did she mention?”

“William the Conqueror.”

“What language did she figure the mouse spoke?”

“French.”

“What sentence did she say to the mouse and what is the translation?”

“Ou est ma chat? Where is my cat?”

“True or False: Tweedledee and Tweedledum appears in  _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”_

“False. They made their debut in  _Through the Looking Glass.”_

“When Alice arrives at the Duchess’s house, there are two footmen. Name what creatures they are.”

“A Frog Footman and a Fish Footman.”

“What creature did the baby become?”

“A pig.”

“What is the name of the maid that Alice is mistaken for and by whom?”

“Mary Anne by the White Rabbit.”

“What is the advice that the caterpillar gives to Alice when she tries to storm off the first time?”

“Keep your temper.”

“Why will Time not do a thing I ask?”

“The Queen claimed that you were murdering the time during at her Great Concert.”

“What is the non-food item that makes Alice shrink?”

“The fan.”

“What two creatures was Alice left alone with by the Queen of Hearts?”

“A Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.”

“Name the two songs that the Mock Turtle sings.”

“ _The Lobster Quadrille_ and  _Beautiful Soup._ ”

“Why couldn’t the guards execute the Cheshire Cat?”

“They were arguing over whether a head can be beheaded if it doesn’t have a body.”

“What is the final question that the young man asks Father William?”

“’What made you so awfully clever?’”  
  
“And finally, a bonus question; why is a raven like a writing desk?”

Oh. THAT question. Fuck if I knew. The most obvious answer was ‘Because Poe wrote upon both,’ but if Horace was as fanatical about this novel if he appeared, he would likely look for a canon answer. It took me a good while to ponder this (and it took the author a google search because I wasn’t sure).

“Because,” I hesitated.  
“Both can produce a few notes, though they are very flat, and they’re nevar placed with the front at the back.”

He scribbled something down on the paper before standing up and leading me down.

After a while, Alice was up. If she lived up to her namesake, I knew that she likely knew the story pretty well. And it seemed to still be true when she returned.

* * *

After this came the final trial. My palms were sweaty as fuck by this point. I was hoping it was something easy.

"For this last trial," he introduced before leaving us hanging in the air for what felt like hours.

_Get to the damn point already!_

"You will be tested on your ability to accurately speak in Received Pronunciation, otherwise known as High British."

 _Are you keeding me?_ I screamed like MirandaSings, internally, with relief.

I hit the fucking jackpot. High British was a dialect I was rather good at.

“But I must warn you,” he cautioned.  
“I am quite the Phonetic Fanatic. My ears can pick up on pronunciation errors very well.”

I saw Alice come back down with a little apprehension on her face, but I didn’t have time to ask her how it went because my name was called next. My poem was  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning,_ which I kinda flat-out forgot existed in the story, but I gave it my best effort.

“How much do you wanna bet Penelope’s gonna get the best score on this?” Arya whispered to Erica as I returned.

“Yes, her accent’s amazing,” she huffed in frustration.  
“I have to live with that, you know!”


	8. Tricks In My Pocket, Things Up My Hat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets.....creepy.

Once we were all finished, Horace left and locked the lair to tabulate scores. Nearly everyone was jittering with anxiety. Some were even crying, and of course, Dooper was joining them because he liked to feel like he was a part of something.

I, however, decided to put myself off to the corner, lost in thought. There was something that had been gnawing at me for ages. People seemed to always want to protect me, steer me in a certain life direction, usually without even asking me. I would even go so far as to say there were some who wanted to control me and/or my life. And that was when I decided: after I was freed, the second the opportunity presented itself, I was going to run off on my own.

But I didn’t have time to plan the specifics, for at that moment, Horace returned.

“Everyone line up,” he ordered.

We did so, because once again, being murdered doesn't sound like fun.. As he looked through the pages, he smirked every so often.

“I’m going to call this first group. If you are called, step off to your left.”

He cleared his throat as he called out each name, waiting for the person to step to the left before continuing, which only extended the tension.

“Marly. Kyrie. Sequoia. Arya. Erica. Sunny.”

Soon all six of them were off to the left, glancing at each other, unsure of what this meant.

“This is the group of those whose average scores were above the average overall score, but did not make it into the top. This means you will have to stay with me, but only for a little while.”

He then took out small slips of paper and handed one to each of the six of them. They looked at them and some were pleasantly surprised, while others disappointed.

“Now onto the next group. If you’re called, step off to your right.”

He cleared his throat once again, calling off each name and waiting until they stepped to the side, making it seem as though time was trekking through a think tank of tar.

“Harlow. Ines. Stella. Caelan. Parris. Montana. Nora. Hazel. Hyacinthe. Shiloh. Dooper. Haven. Ciel. Lisbet. Cyrille.”

Once they had stepped to the right, Horace spoke again.

“This is the group of those whose average scores were below the average overall score.”

My heart dropped as I saw him hand out the slips of paper. Some of them tried to laugh it off, while others burst into tears, knowing what this would mean. I saw it from Harlow especially whose lips were pursed tightly in an attempt to hold back tears. They must’ve gotten a rather low average.

“And now for our last group. When I call your name, step out to the center. Alice.”

I heard a small yelp from Alice as her eyes grew wide. And from the way Horace had said her name, I could understand why she’d feel scared, and confused, I imagined. Trembling she stepped out to the center.

“Kasey. Celeste. Taylor. Matt.”

That last name came as no surprise to any of us.

“Mystic.”

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out to the center.

“Penelope. Ro. Safiya.”

Again, the last name came as no surprise to anyone.

“Silvia, and finally Tristen.”

Once we had stepped out, Horace let the atmosphere settle. A chill ran through us. The chill of this moment, the very moment that could decide my fate, circulated me as well, but my mind was working like a clock to determine what my fate was. What had Horace said earlier? About each score group? He’d already announced those who scored at or above the average and those who scored below the average. But that could only mean…….

_Those who have the ten highest scores will win their freedom immediately._

_Holy shit!_

My eyes widened in shock. Our group had the highest scores. We were going to win our freedom!

And that was confirmed.

“This is the group who had the highest overall average scores.”

Some, like Penelope, were stoic about the whole encounter, but beaded tears of joy slid down Alice’s face in disbelief. I was ecstatic for them, but I also looked over to the other group, those who were situated on the right; Dooper, Nora, Stella. They all had a collective stature of defeat and tears in their eyes. I sensed their spirits dropping away from them, similarly to me when I could feel a major depressive episode coming on. I knew that failing an exam fucking sucked, but I wasn’t quite sure why. It was just an exam, right? Then I remembered what Horace had said.

_Those whose scores are found in the bottom of the barrel will be mine forever._

It wasn’t fair. I thought that scores didn’t matter outside of school. Others in that group started to understand as well. Silvia, in particular, was rather vocal.

“If you insist on keeping them here forever,” they hissed.  
“You’ll have to get past the rest of us.”

“Hold, please,” Horace ordered so sharply that Silvia dropped their guard.  
“I have two announcements.”

Once again, he let the tension tremble, rising and falling. It left us all terrified. But finally he spoke.

“The first announcement is the award ceremony. We must award those who had the three highest scores in each category. Next we will award those who consistently achieved high marks in all three trials. Then we shall award those who had the highest average score. And then we shall award the top scorers.”

We all glanced around at confusion, but thought maybe he just wanted to prolong it a little while longer.

 _I guess it’s more time we have as an entire group,_ I thought.

“Before we begin, to be sure those who placed fairly high are recognized, I have decided to award those who scored within the 90s of each category as well; as honorable mentions if you will. Also, to give those of you in the low scoring group a little bit of hope; just because you scored below average does NOT mean you didn’t score a 90 or higher in a category. Same goes to those within the averages.”

As he went through his list, muttering some nonsense to himself, I saw that the two aforementioned groups weren’t sure whether they should be excited, relieved, or scared. It seems like they eventually decided on all three.

“Our first honorable mention for the Poetic Recall, whose recitation of  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning_ scored her a rather remarkable 90 is the always alluringly-lovely Penelope Dowry!”

The rest of us clapped, a little hesitantly, but some, like Dooper, were going full-out, cheering. Horace grabbed her hand and tried to plant a kiss, but she quickly pulled away. Sighing, he handed something to her. Curtseying, she headed back to her spot.”

“Our second honorable mention, for their recitation of  _You Are Old, Father William_ earning them a 97 is Sequoia.”

Sequoia stepped up. Horace grabbed their hand and shook it rather profusely.

“Rather fantastic work. Rather fantastic work, indeed,” he beamed.

Sequoia returned with their hand around something small.

“Our third honorable mention, whose recall of  _Jabberwocky_ bestowed upon her also a 97 is the raven-haired beauty Safiya Nygaard!”

Safiya looked a bit astonished, blushing slightly as she stepped forward. Like Penelope, Horace attempted to kiss her hand, but she pulled away.

“Good day, sir!” she exclaimed as she snatched something in his held-out hand and rushed back to her spot.

_Thank God._

“And now we get into the top contenders; I must inform you all that we shall have TWO silver winners, as both participants scored the same. Now onto our bronze winner, one who I sense will be a surprise to absolutely no one at all. With his well-interpreted recitation of  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning_ earning him a well-deserved 98, putting him in 3rd place, is Sir Matthew Patrick!”

We all applauded, some looked relieved, because if Matt could score high on these trials, then there was some hope for the rest of us; he'd probably be able to find a way to save us. Matt prepared for the small token, but instead, he received a small box. Opening it, he found a tea saucer with the initials MP painted on it in theorist-green.

“Yes, well done. Well done, indeed,” Horace exclaimed as Matt returned to his spot.  
“Now as I mentioned, we have TWO silver winners, both scoring an impressive 99.”

We were shook to our core. 99? How the hell was that even possible?

“First up, for the rather well-articulated and interpreted recitation of  _Jabberwocky_ placing her in silver 2nd is the rather dashing Kasey.”

Kasey reluctantly stepped up to receive their prize, nearly avoiding a kiss on the cheek from Horace. Theirs was also a treasure chest, only this one was a little bigger. I couldn't really see what they'd gotten, but I heard a shriek and I knew something creeped them out.

“And our second silver winner for her glorious recitation of  _You Are Old, Father William_ is the lovely Taylor.”

Taylor kept her head down, but Horace tried to bring it back up for her kiss. Sighing he handed her the prize, another treasure chest and another teacup with her name on it and a silver spoon. She dashed back to her place.

“And finally, for our first place in this round, with her rather moving interpretive performance of  _Jabberwocky,_ which earned her a perfect 100---“

Gasps rippled amongst us.

“The beautiful angel draped in well-deserved ethereal gold, Lady Mystic.”

_Oh fuck._

Hearing my name, my eyes widened. I didn’t want to go up there! I really fucking didn't. I saw what he had tried to do to several others. I was NOT about that guy. I backed away slowly.

“Come now, my dearest,” he chuckled as he reached for his pocket.  
“There’s no need to be shy. If you like, you can listen to the ticking of my pocket watch to calm you down.”

Alice gasped upon hearing this, and she pulled me forward. I didn't resist because like I was gonna fucking get hypnotized.

“You can do it. Just get it over with,” she encouraged me.

Gulping I cautiously stepped forward, absentmindedly taking hold of Horace’s hand. But to my surprise, he just went for the cheek. But even so, I pulled back.

I received a treasure chest. Inside it was a teapot with my name on it, which was creepy as fuck, as well as a few goodies, such as several sleeves of various biscuits, sugar, creamer, and teabags, particularly peppermint tea bags. Grabbing it I quickly headed back to my spot.

“Now for the trivia awards. Since that last bit took quite a bit of time, I shall simply call out the people and their scores one at a time. To begin, the dashing Penelope Dowry with a score of 90.”

She came up and quickly snatched her prize before heading back to her spot.

“Also with a score of 90, Sir Matthew Patrick.”

Again no surprise there.

“Next with a score of 91, the ravishing Silvia.”

The writer mentioned quickly ran up and grabbed their prize.

“Our final honorable mention, with a score of 93, the dazzling ray of adorable sunshine herself, Rosanna Pansino.”

Blushing, Ro stepped up, but Parris stood by her side.

“I swear, if you dare try to taint this pure cinnamon roll…..” they growled.

“A kiss on the hand won’t dirty this precious flower,” he insisted.

But as they were arguing, to our surprise, Ro stood on her toes and placed a kiss on Horace’s forehead. Even Horace was taken aback.

“You all saw that, right?” Nora gasped.

“Is….is it real?” Kasey asked as Ro skipped back to her place with her prize.

_I'm not sure._

It took Horace a good minute or two to recompose himself.

“Anyway, onto our top three. Just like last trial’s silver, we have two bronze winners, both scoring a 94. The first is our sweet and pure Mystic.”

_I resent you so much right now._

I quickly ran up and snatched my treasure chest. Inside was a tea saucer with my name painted in purple. Then I quickly ran back to my spot.

“And our second bronze winner is the dainty and delicate Hazel.”

The shy girl ran forward with her head down and snatched up her treasure chest.

“Onto the silver! We only have one, with a score of 96 and possessing my absolute favorite name, is the lovely little Alice.”

My heard Alice give a small yelp before shuffling forward. Horace tried to take ahold of her hand, but she kept them behind her back and her head down.

“How?” I heard her whispered.  
  
“That final bonus question, my dear.”

And just as I thought she was in the clear, I saw the bastard leave a peck on her head, and she nearly burst into tears. I ran up, grabbed Alice’s chest and gently pulled Alice back to calm her down.

“It’s okay,” I assured her gently, rubbing her trembling back.  
“We’re gonna get out of here soon, I know it.”

_But not before I slam this son-of-a-bitch's face into a spike-covered wall._

“And finally, our first place gold, another perfect 100, is Celeste.”

Celeste, a bit terrified, rushed up to him. He tried to plant one on her cheek, but---

“Don’t fuck with me, I have magic lesbian protection!” she yelled with an unwavering straight face as she held up her fists.

He was taken aback, so much so that he merely handed her the chest. Feeling pretty smug, she walked back to her spot. I couldn't help but smirk and pump a fist slightly.

"Fuck yeah," I whispered under my breath.

Then I began to wonder.

"Could I use magic ace protection or magic biromantic protection?"

But I didn't have much time to ponder, as he was about to continue.

“Now for the dialect performance. Our first honorable mention goes to, shockingly, one of you from the lower scorers.”

There was a general wave of surprise and anticipation.

“With a score of 90 reciting  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning_ is the gorgeous Ines.”

Ines quickly rushed up and grabbed her prize, astonished at having even scored that high on any category.

“Next up, scoring a 95 for  _Jabberwocky,_ Sir Matthew Patrick.”

Again, no surprise there. We were pretty certain he would take one of the top overall spots.

“The final Honorable Mention, with a score of 97 also on  _Jabberwocky,_ Kasey.”

Kasey had been called up twice, another potential contender for the top 3 overall.

“Now our 3rd place winner comes from the average group. Taking a 98 on her recitation of  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning,_ the radiant Briar.”

Briar was stoic as she approached him, merely snatching the box with the saucer and turning back before he could plant a kiss.

“Uh, yes,” he coughed embarrassed.  
“Well, our 2nd place contestant, with her recitation on  _You Are Old, Father William,_ the ethereal angel, Mystic.”

He hoped I would be too shy to run off, but not me; I snatched away the box with the cup and spoon before returning to my spot. I was tempted to flip him off as well, but I decided against it.

“And finally, with a perfect 100 on her recitation of  _They Told Me You Had Been To Her Meaning,_ taking first is no surprise to anyone, the lovely Lady Dowry.”

Applauding, I looked over and saw Erica rolling her eyes as Penelope stepped forward. Carefully, Penelope picked up the box with the tea pot and carried it back.

“Now,” he continued.

“There are 3 people who achieved consistent high marks. I shall not say yet.”

“But you said--!!” Dooper exclaimed.

“So we shall now move on to awarding the top overall average scorers. Normally we’d have only 10, but there were some who achieved the same averages.”

Digging through his jacket, he pulled out a large scroll and why the fuck did he have a scroll? This wasn't Hogwarts. I wish it was.

“When I call your name, come and receive your prize; then stand at the back behind me. This is out of 100. Scoring 67 are Alice and Rosanna. Scoring 69 is Silvia. Totaling 71.6666666 is Tristen. Possessing 73.33333 are Celeste and Taylor. Scoring 85.6666 is Kasey. And taking a 90.4 is Safiya.”

He waited for the applause to die down.

“Now our top 3, all of whom consistently received high marks. In third place, with an average score of 93.3333, is the lovely Penelope Dowry.”

Stepping forward, he handed her a rather large white box.

“Second place,” he continued as she went to the back.  
“With an overall average of 94.333333 is Sir Matthew Patrick!”

He also got a large white box.

“And finally, with an average score of an astounding 97.333333 is our lovely angel of gold, Mystic.”

Realizing that there was no one else, I stepped forward, my anxiety crawling upwards, but he didn’t hand me a box, not yet. Instead he stared at me, almost ravenously.

_Can you **fucking. NOT?**_

“You look so innocent and vulnerable when you’re afraid,” he whispered slowly as he caressed my face. This caused all of the girls to flinch, including me. But what he said next made things even worse.

“A lot of men love that in a girl, and I am no exception.”

At that point, my creep meter was off-the-charts with this dude. A chill ran down my spine. I had to get the fuck out of this. I tried to move to the back of the wall, but he grabbed me before I could.

“Don’t think you can get away so easily,” he chuckled.

“You said we were free to go,” I hissed angrily.

“Oh, yes,” he smirked.  
“I did say that, didn’t I?”

My brain was telling me to fucking get out of there, bitch, but instead I found myself frozen where I stood. And then guess what this motherfucker did? He locked lips with me. 

I could hear Tana Mongeau screaming  _WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FUCK?_ as well as that  _BITCH WHAT THE FUCK?_ vine. And for good reasons. 

It may have been only a second or two, but it felt like an eternity to me, until Penelope stepped up and gave him a whack in the face.

“Horace!” she snapped as she pulled me away; I was now visibly shaken and on the verge of a shutdown.  
“What on earth was that for?”

He chuckled maliciously.

“Attention, everyone.”

Whipping out a remote, he pressed a button. From out of nowhere, a large pan of glass nearly slammed down, blocking off us high scorers from everyone else. He then casually strolled over to a microphone in the wall and clicked a button.

“It's time for that second announcement I mentioned earlier. There’s been a change in plans,” he announced slowly with villainy oozing from his tone.  
“Those who scored the top marks shall stay with me. Forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You really think it was that straight-forward?


	9. Off To Wonderland?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get worrisome.

We all stood there, dumbfounded, terrified. Even Penelope, who normally held a stoic expression, found herself wavering.

“You lied to us!” I spat.

He turned towards me.

“You said that we would get to go free.”

“And keep those idiots who know NOTHING of Carroll’s greatest work? Not on your life.”

With a lick of his lips, Horace pressed another button, trapping EVERYONE inside.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all the rest!” he announced, giving off a malicious ringmaster vibe.  
“It’s time for the main event!”

From his jacket, he pulled out a stack of eleven cards, each with a pocket watch, a tea cup, and a number on its purple backing.

“Here I have eleven cards of fate. Our eleven newest Wonderland denizens will pick one card. Should ANY of you attempt to intervene, it will be off with your head!”

“And suppose WE refuse to pick a card?” Tristen sniffed.

He smirked at the girl trying to give off a façade of strength.

“You’ll have to answer to my pocket watch,” he growled.

I could see Tristen’s eyes widen. I began to tremble, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alice on the verge of collapsing. Tugging at Ro’s jacket, she immediately knew. We both reached down and picked her up, I at her right and Ro on her left.

“Alice?” I whispered as I shook her gently.  
“Alice, wake up!”

An idea occurred to me. I quickly snatched up the teapot, still steaming with warm water. Carefully, but quickly, I poured it onto Alice’s face and she began to stir.

“Hello?” she groaned.

“You nearly passed out,” I informed her.

Ro and I held onto her for support as Horace slowly approached us. I could feel his shadow hovering over us.

“Penelope, Mystic, Matthew,” he called.  
“Since you three were in the top scores, you may take your pick of cards. Mystic, my dear, you go first. Pick a number between 1 and 11."

My heart pounded as I scanned the cards. A few moments later, I decided to settle on my favorite number, a lucky number.

“Card number seven,” I declared.

He smirked, then handed me the card.

“Do not look until everyone has their card,” he told me as I grabbed it, before giving me a boop on the nose.

To be honest, I was tempted to, especially considering how condescending of a tone he had, (I was also tempted to smack that motherfucker) but I decided to hold that off as Matt came forth.

“Now, pick another number, Matthew,” Horace said.  
“Any number between 1 and 11, EXCEPT for 7.”

He gave this some thought before I saw him point at a card with a slightly-higher number value.

“Card number eight.”

Taking it from Horace, he then took a step back as Penelope stepped forward.

“Well, it seems that we’re going in sequential values,” she remarked.  
“So I’ll be taking Card Thrice Squared.”

“You’ve always had a very extensive vocabulary,” he remarked fondly as she snatched the card.  
“Next, our raven-haired beauty.”

He gestured to Safiya. As she was choosing the cards, I noticed that he was trying to reach for her long hair.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Celeste snapped.

Horace, realizing she was the most defensive of us all, pulled back. I assumed he didn’t want to stir up much trouble, especially as Safiya was making her decision.

“I guess I’ll break the sequence,” she shrugged.  
“Card Eleven.”

He took the card on the far left and handed it to her.

“Kasey, you’re next.”

They were less indecisive than the rest of us, going right for the 1st card after only a few seconds of thought. Celeste was even quicker to come to a decision, as she came up and selected the 3rd card immediately.

Taylor was a bit timid about her choice, selecting the 2nd card after about two minutes of contemplation. Tristen took less time, eventually tapping on the 4th card. I could see Alice trembling more and more as each of her choices whittled down. Goodness knows what she’d end up with. But my biggest concern was getting the hell out of here.

Silvia took the 5th card, leaving 6 and 10 for Ro and Alice.

“Rosanna, you first,” he told her.

She leaned over to Alice.

“Which one do you want?” she asked her softly.  
“I’ll take the other one.”

“Tick tock, my dear. We’ve not much time here,” Horace interrupted in a sing-song voice that sent chills throughout my entire body.

“Card 10,” she blurted out without thinking.

Shuffling up, she took hold of the 10th card.

“And finally, Alice,” he smirked.

Gulping she stepped forward and took ahold of the 6th card.

“Now,” he continued.  
“We shall do our reveal in reverse. Meaning that Alice will be the first to reveal her card. The rest of you are not permitted to look until I say so. Alice, you may look.”

I saw her hand clamped onto the card like a rusty, stuck claw. She was too afraid to flip it over.

“Just……just get it over with, please,” I sighed with a mixture of sadness and defeat.

Her hand trembling, she slowly flipped over the card. Her hand shook so that I gripped onto her wrist just so she could look at it. I glanced at hers.

It was an illustration of a cute little brown kitten with a pink bow around her neck. She was happily chasing a butterfly, trying to paw at it. And on the top of the card, in bold, elaborate print, it read

“Dinah,” Alice read sadly, her shoulders dropping.

She was going to be Dinah, Alice’s pet kitten.

“Oh, don’t be so down. Let’s turn things around,” Horace encouraged her.  
“You’ll get to be adorable forever. Forever and ever.”

 _Okay, that’s not even a rhyme. That’s just downright lazy,_ I thought to myself.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I won’t be human,” I heard her mutter under her breath.

“Next our lovely Rosanna.”

Sighing she flipped over her card and showed it. It was a picture of an adorable little mouse curled up asleep in a teacup on a table. On the top, it read

“The Dormouse,” she shrugged.

I could hear her trying to be positive, but she too had a slight tone of defeat.

Then Silvia flipped hers over; I didn’t see her illustration.

“The Mock Turtle,” she announced in a tone that said “are-you-fucking-kidding-me-right-now?”

Tristen was next.

“The White Queen,” she read, sounding pleasantly surprised.  
“I guess that won’t be too terrible.”

“Yeah, maybe it won’t be for you,” Silvia scoffed as Celeste flipped over her card.

“The Duchess,” she huffed, glaring at Horace.  
“Really?”

“Don’t look at me,” he gasped innocently.  
“It was destiny.”

“Sure it was,” I heard her scoff.

The options, even though I didn’t know what they were, were slowly whittling down for ME. I kept thinking to what he said yesterday.

_You were going to be Alice as you first had me smitten, but I think you’d fit better as her cute little kitten._

I knew he was talking about Dinah, but Alice had drawn that card, so that one was out of the question.

_And yet I feel your elegance remains to be seen, so another good option would be the White Queen._

Tristen had that card already.

_Or perhaps there’s a slight mischievous streak in that. So maybe I’ll turn you into the Cheshire Cat._

No one had the Cheshire Cat card as far as I knew. I thought it wouldn’t be too terrible of an option; I’d be able to turn invisible at will and do all sorts of crazy shit. Just so long as I didn’t get HER, I was sure I’d be fine. Knock on wood.

Taylor turned hers over and gave a squeak.

“T-the White Rabbit,” she gasped a little fearfully.  
“I-I mean r-rabbits are cute, I guess.”

Next up was Kasey

“Don’t tell me,” she sighed knowingly.  
“I’m the fucking caterpillar, right?”

She flipped hers over and gestured to it.

“What do ya know?” she asked sarcastically.

“I mean, at least you get to smoke some dank kush,” Celeste piped up, sending snickers through the rest of us.

“Smoke tea e’eryday,” Tristen contributed, adding a few more snickers and even a snort.

“We get it, you vape,” I sighed jokingly, causing a full-out ripple of laughter throughout everyone, including those on the other side of the glass. Even Horace couldn’t help but chuckle.

Once we’d calmed down, which took a good five minutes, I noticed that in the ensuing laughter, Alice had gone missing. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an air vent propped only slightly closed.

 _Did she really just….?_ I thought to myself.

While I’d been looking at the vent, I noticed that Safiya had flipped over her card.

“The Cheshire Cat,” she announced.

Immediately after hearing that, the color draining from my face, I began to pray that Alice was trying to find a way to free us. My heart palpitating, I could barely focus as Penelope flipped her card over.

“The Queen of Hearts,” she said casually.  
“I swear you’ve rigged these, Horace.”

He didn’t respond, just stared at Matt expectantly. He turned over his card.

“The March Hare.”

And my heart dropped. There was only one possible option left. I knew there was no way Wonderland could exist, at least to Horace, without her. I tried to delay the inevitable, hoping desperately for some sort of miracle.

“Well?” Horace asked me expectantly.  
“You are the last one, my dear Mystic. Why don’t you flip your card over?”

At the very least, I had to try to stall, just in case Alice WAS trying to find a way out. so I pretended not to hear.

“Mystic?” he asked again.

I didn’t reply.

“Mystic!” he exclaimed loudly.

I pretended to stir out of a daze.

“What?” I asked "confused."  
“Who are you talking to?”

“You, Mystic.”

“What about me?”

He was giving me a knowing smile.

“It’s time.”

“Time for what?”

“For you to flip it over.”

“Flip it over?”

“Yes.”

“Wait. Flip what over?”

“Your card.”

“What card?”

“The one in your hand.”

I looked down and pretended to be surprised.

“Oh,” I exclaimed.

“You mean THIS card?”

I pointed to it.

“Yes, that one.”

“THIS card?”

“THAT card.”

“This one in my hand?”

“Yes.”

“You want me to do what with it again?”

“Flip it over.”

“Flip it over?”

“Yes.”

“You want me to flip it over?”

“Yes.”

He was becoming increasingly impatient.

“You want me to flip THIS card over?”

“Yes!”

“So, let me get this straight. I just wanna see if I’m hearing this correctly; you want me to take THIS card, THIS dark-purple card with the pocket watch and the teacup on it with a seven written on it in what looks to be sharpie, that I am holding in MY hand. You want ME to take THIS exact card, and flip it over?”

“YES!”

I paused for a moment before shrugging.

“Okay, I can do that.”

I could see him I flipped it over and my heart jumped, but I pretended to merely study it.

“Well?” he asked triumphantly.

I stared up at him and blinked in confusion.

“Well what?” I replied.

“Aren’t you going to say it?”

“Say what?”

“What character you’re going to become.”

“I’m going to become a character?”

“Yes.”

“Which character am I gonna become?”

“It’s on your card.”

“What card?”

“The card in your hand!”

“THIS card?”

“Yes.”

“The one in my hand?”

“Yes. Do you see a character on it?”

“I mean, I see something.”

“Do you see a name on the top of it?”

“Yes.”

“And you also see an illustration, correct?”

“Yes, I see that too.”

“Now let the rest of us know.”

“Okay.”

I turned to the others.

“I would like to let the rest of you know that I do indeed see a name and an illustration on my card.”

“No!” he snapped.  
“I meant tell us the specifics.”

“Oh! Okay,” I agreed.  
“Um, let’s see. On the card, there’s a picture. It’s a picture of a girl, I think. Or it could be a dude with long hair, but I’m guessing it’s a girl. And she has really long hair. And, uh, I think she’s got a dress on. And socks and shoes. She looks like she’s pretty young; I would say she’s probably, maybe, around the age of about 10 years old or so, possibly give or take a few months, potentially. She seems to be sitting in something, not quite sure. It looks like a chair. I think it MAY be a chair. Yes, I do believe she is sitting in a chair. It looks like a very comfortable chair as well. I would love to sit in that chair.  
“She, uh, she has something in her hand. It looks like, I think it may possibly be a cup. No, wait. Oh, no never mind. It is a cup. It might possibly be a teacup? Yes, I think she is indeed holding a tea cup—“

“And what about the name?” he asked through gritted teeth.

At that moment, I saw her. She was out on the other side.

“Alice!”

“Yes!” he exclaimed triumphantly.  
“You’ve said it!”

All of a sudden, Alice went over to the wall and pressed a button. The glass panel lifted up. Horace turned around and gasped.

“Actually, that’s what I meant,” I clarified.


	10. Between Yourself and Me

Everyone broke out into a frenzy. Dooper tried busting down the door as the rest of us ran around, trying to keep Horace from succeeding. I tried to run straight for the door, but I felt a sudden yank. Whirling around, I was horrified to see Horace grasping onto me, glaring at me with a toothy grin, licking his lips like a wolf who had just caught his prey. My heart rate skyrocketed.

“Don’t think you’ll escape so easily, my dear. You will always be staying here!”

He began to pull out his pocket watch, but neglected to notice his surroundings. Penelope ran up behind him and suddenly, he felt something hit the back of his head. His grip on me loosened a little, but not quite. He quickly shifted his arm, pinning me just below the neck.

“Everyone!” he announced.

All of a sudden, she felt the cold sting of steel against my right temple; my heart nearly stopped beating. People gasped.

“Oh shit! He’s got a gun,” Erica yelled.

“Try any shenanigans,” Horace continued.  
“And our lovely little angel here will be partially steel. Now I KNOW both parties would prefer her to be alive; however.”

He took his hand and slowly began to stroke my cheek. Tears streamed down my face as I shook with a shiver running through me.

“I would have no qualms about preserving her youth and beauty as a doll. Isn’t that what we all want anyway? To be young and beautiful forever?”

Slowly, he leaned down and planted a kiss on my head before planting more. While he was doing this, his threat gave me an idea. I relaxed and took a deep breath.

“Okay,” I shrugged causally.  
“Go ahead. Kill me.”

This took everyone by surprise, even Horace who stopped kissing me and pulled back, much to the relief of everyone in the room.

“Mystic, what are you doing?” Alice gasped.  
“Please rethink this!”

I shook my head and shrugged again. I knew what I was doing.

“If he’s so insistent on me dying if he can’t have his way, then whatever floats his boat, I guess.”

A click at my head signaled that the trigger had been set. We both seemed to share a sight psychic connection, stalling for time, letting the reaction set in.

“However,” I added with a smirk.  
“I don’t think that the Cursed God will be particularly pleased to hear that you put a bullet in his bride’s skull.”

That did the trick. Gasping, his grip on both her and the gun loosened. I rushed towards the group, but it was at that moment I realized. 

The trigger on the gun had been set.

The second it hit the ground, bullets shot out in all directions. We all ducked, trying to find a place to hide. One nearly grazed the top of my head. Another hit the door button, releasing the lock.

“C’mon!” Dooper yelled.  
“Let’s get out of here!”

We were about to run when suddenly---

“AHH!”

A yell erupted from the back of the room. We all ran over and saw Horace, his hand on his abdomen, which was now a dark red.

With a weak croaking gasp, he fell to his knees and then his side.

“Horace!” Penelope gasped, her face turning paper-white.

Immediately she ran over to his side, and grasp his hand tightly.

“Horace, please,” she trembled.  
“Stay with me. It’s going to be okay.”

Pushing him onto his back, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of tweezers. When she tried to remove the bullet---

“No,” Horace whispered hoarsely.  
“Leave it in there.”

“Why?”

Slowly he looked up at her, giving her a weak smile.

“The blood will rush out faster. I want to spend my last moments with you, I want to make them last.”

While she was staring at him, I noticed his hand trying to reach around her neck.

“Don’t even try!” I snapped rushing over behind Penelope.  
“Doesn’t matter if you’re dying. You’re not taking someone else with you.”

Alice rushed over beside her.

“Penelope,” Horace rasped.  
“Do…..do you remember where we first met?”

She nodded sadly as tears came to her eyes.

“It was out in the academy garden,” she choked.  
“In the labyrinth, shaped like a spiral.”

“Our hands……..they fell on the same flower; a red rose.”

Penelope gave him a sad smile.

“I remember I was so embarrassed at first to even be around you.”

“You wanted to maintain that aloof reputation, so you……..threw yourself into your classes.”

“But I kept finding myself back in that garden, and I’d always find you there by that rose.”

“And then it was almost winter when I----“

“Yes,” she chuckled sadly.  
“You were so bashful about it as well. After you asked, I picked that rose. And then once we were together, you started to call me Rose.”

“My precious Rose,” he coughed weakly.  
“My precious…..Penelope Rose.”

There were a few moments of silence.

“Penelope, do you think there’s a garden like that in the afterlife?”

“I’m sure there is,” she squeaked.

“Good,” he stammered slowly.  
“No one will be able to hurt me there, like they did. Thank you, Penelope. You filled that void of love, the one my ‘family’ made.”

He coughed a bit more and Penelope grasped tighter onto his hand.

This exchange, I realized, showed Horace for who he was. Yes, he was fucking delusional, no it didn’t excuse what he did to them, but Horace wasn’t evil. She saw a young man in him, one who pined for the love that was refused to him as a child.

“There’s a package underneath the table in red rose wrapping,” he exclaimed.  
“Can you bring that, and the book? Please?”

Dooper rushed upstairs and grabbed both.

“Penelope, my rose,” he sighed.  
“That gift is for you. Please……don’t open it until I am gone.”

I took a hold of the book Dooper brought down and placed it in Horace’s hands, while he placed the box by Horace.

“Take good care of Mystic, my rose. She reminds me of you when we first met.”

Penelope tried to stay strong, but her façade was falling to pieces before her eyes. Yet she didn’t care. This man had been her first love. The tears were falling faster.

“Horace,” she squeaked.  
“Please…..don’t go. I……I love you.”

Placing a trembling finger on Penelope’s lips, he began.

_“They told me you had been to her_   
_And mentioned me to him._   
_She gave me a good character,  
_ _But said I could not swim.”_

A single tear began to flow down her eyes as she continued slowly, through her droplets of melancholy.

_“He sent them word I had not gone_   
_(we know it to be true)_   
_If she should push the matter on  
_ _What would become of you?"_

Horace grew weaker, he could feel his consciousness fading. I supposed Penelope could sense it as well; slowly and gently, she leaned down, and gave him a tender kiss on the lips, holding it for as long as she could, wishing to savor her last moments with the man she first loved. 

 _“If I or she should chance to be  
_ _Involved in this affair,”_ he continued softly with hope flickering in his dying eyes.

_“He trusts to you to set them free,  
_ _Exactly as we were.”_

_“Don't let them know she liked them best,”_  they finished together in near-perfect unison.  
 _“For this must ever be_  
 _A secret, kept from all the rest,  
_ _Between yourself and me.”_

At that moment, Horace sunk into a deep slumber, one from which he would never wake up. Penelope gave his hand one more squeeze as a tear fell from her face, dropping onto his heart.

“Is he……is he really?” Erica wondered.

“He is………gone,” Penelope gulped.

Slowly she reached for the package and stood up.

“Come on, everyone,” she sighed, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

“Get your things.”

“Penelope---“ Ines began.

“Please,” she asserted firmly.

“Get your things.”

Slowly we dispersed. Penelope kept silent while she gathered what was hers before sneaking outside and back to the campground to open the package, which I'd taken a peek at later. I found a letter, a glass case with a red rose on the inside, a photo album, a yearbook, and a copy of the Wonderland series. But what broke Penelope, I imagined, was the dedication inside the first book.

_To my dearest rose Penelope,_

_You will always be Alice to me._


	11. Ambushed

After that, we decided to stay at the site for a few more days, just to give us time to mourn. Penelope, especially, was nearly catatonic from his death while the rest of us were simply shaken.

All except for Alice.

She seemed…….unfazed.

It took me some time to notice this, but once I did, I had to do something.

“Hey, Alice?” I asked politely.

“What?” she spat.

Okay, that was definitely NOT like her.

“I need to talk to you.”

“I’m busy.”

I glared at her in disbelief.

“Fine,” she sighed.  
“What do you want?”

I took a deep breath.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine, why?”

“You’re not acting like yourself. Who are you?”

Alice blinked.

“You know me, Glass---I mean Mystic. I’m Alice.”

“Nice try,” I growled.  
“But I know Alice, and she’s not like this, so I’m….”

I tried to hold onto “Alice” while grabbing a nearby stick and holding it to her neck.

“Gonna ask one….more…”

I saw “Alice” struggling to not laugh.

“What the hell’s so funny?” I growled.

“Oh man, the Cursed God’s right,” she hooted.  
“You are just too adorable.”

Hearing this, I rolled my eyes. Sure, I didn’t MIND being complimented, but I was a little tired of that compliment being adorable. Well, at least at the moment.

“Just tell me who the hell you are,” I groaned.

Before she could answer, Ines came running from the outskirts of the woods in a panic.

“They’re on their way!” she panted.

“Who?” I asked.

“All of them, the clowns, the mannequins, the zombified agents, everyone!”

_Shit._

“How close are they?”

“I don’t know exactly,” she exclaimed as she grabbed our hands and ran.

“But we need to get out….now!”

* * *

 

Before we knew it, we were back at the camp. The others seemed to have gotten the memo; they were packing as quickly as possible.

“Mystic!” Ro gasped, running over to hug me.  
“Thank goodness you and Alice are safe.”

“How’s the packing coming along?” Ines asked.

“We should almost be finished,” Safiya informed us.  
“Then we’ll head straight for the town.”

All of a sudden, we saw a large figure rushing towards them. It looked a bit like the Hulk, but without green skin.

“It’s Demon Wilmer,” Nora gasped.  
“We need to go.”

All of a sudden, a dagger zoomed past Leah’s face, hitting against the tree nearby. We were scared to look, but even more horrified to see that they were closer than before. And they had more company.

“Envy?” “Alice” called out.

Immediately I put my hand on her mouth. But by that time, they’d arrived.

“Well, well, well,” the Killer Clown Leader Kerrie smirked.  
“Look what we have here.”

I glared at “Alice.” Suddenly a thought came to my mind. Jael said that it was likely there was a traitor. Could it be?

“And we brought more company.”

She gestured behind her and I couldn’t believe her eyes.

All of the guests were on leashes. Their eyes bright red, crying blood, skin pale as paper, and foaming at the mouths. They became even more aggressive when they saw me, who immediately hugged onto Ro.

“Wait,” Ciel noted.  
“It feels like you’re down a few people.”

“Calliope and Alison got away,” Wilmer growled.

“Where’s Envy?” Alice asked.

This time it was Cindy who stepped forward.

“He and Calvin are getting a bit…..intimate,” she hissed.

“And we,” the three witches chorused.  
“Are taking our queen back.”

“Now then,” the Killer Clown Leader announced, clasping her hands together.  
“We can do this in either one of two ways; the easy way, which is you all hand Mystic over to us of your own free will and we simply take you into custody. Or the hard way, which is we sic these zombified guests on you all, who will tear you apart limb from limb, and THEN we take Mystic. Which is it gonna be?”

We glanced at one another. This was basically going to be a lose-lose, huh?

“How about neither?” I suggested.

“Yeah, no, that’s not an option.”

“Yeah, I like neither,” Lisbet agreed nodding quickly.

“Well, I don’t,” Lucy giggled insanely.

“Wait,” Sally whined.  
“Didn’t the Cursed God say that we’d each get a writer to do whatever we wanted with?”

“Wasn’t that before the parasites were defeated, though?” Luke asked.

“I told you, we should’ve asked for instructions from the boss BEFORE heading out,” Arthur huffed.

“Well, we would have had time to,” Vera scoffed.  
“If SOMEONE didn’t spend so much time on their hair.”

She glared at Belle.

“A girl’s gotta look good when she’s going to track down and kidnap her future queen,” she sniffed as she fluffed up her curls.

“Don’t you have a more simplified way to do your hair?” Lucy scoffed.

“Pigtails are so easy to style, and quite fashionable.”

“Yeah, maybe for a five year old girl,” Sarah mumbled under her breath.

“Okay, look, Scarah. I don’t see YOU trying anything with your hair, so you don’t get to talk.”

While they were fighting, I snatched the red pull string bag from Penelope. I had taken a quick look inside of them during the Tri Trials, so I knew they were Teastones. I took one out, and said quietly.

“I wish that the guests were permanently cured of the infection.”

Just as expected, it glowed gold and turned into dust, which I let drop into the bag. Sure enough the pigment returned to their skin, and their eyes turned back to normal.

“What the hell is going on?” Colleen asked.  
“Why are we on leashes?”

“I think these bitches are into some kinky shit,” Manny mumbled.

I took out another stone.

“I wish they were free from the leashes.”

Another glow, another pile of dust, and the leashes were gone.

“Why can’t you just wish for the Cursed God to be gone?” Sunny whispered to me.

“That’d be too easy.”

All of a sudden, the sky turned dark and the monsters bowed before it. Panicked, I handed the bag to Penelope while Ro, Matt, and Safiya came over to my side. Then he emerged in his human form.

“I had a feeling you would be out and about, my angel,” he purred as he hovered above me.  
“Nature has a fondness for the innocent.”

Frightened, I grabbed onto Ro. “Alice” was the one who spoke up next.

“Where’s Envy?” she demanded.

The Cursed God chuckled.

“He is working with Calvin on some of the decorations for the wedding of me and my lovely bride.”

He reached out and pet me on the head slowly before snapping his fingers. A ring appeared out of thin air and fell into his hand. Gently he took ahold of my hand, and slipped the ring on. The instant it was on all the way, I fell unconscious. 

* * *

 

Safiya, Matt, and Ro tried to reach her, but the Cursed God had already swooped her into his arms, carrying her bridal style.

“She’s just as sweet and lovely when she’s asleep,” he sighed, stroking her hair.   
“Now we must go. We have a wedding to prepare for.”

He disappeared, along with the other monsters, but not before adding.

“It will be one the universe will never forget.”


	12. Going Solo

As usual, it took me a while to come to, my vision hazy and blurry. But where I awoke was an unending breeze of clouds and familiar, but fictional faces. 

"What.....?" I groaned.  
"What's going on here?"

"You're inside a Mindscape."

A girl with blonde hair stepped forward. She had strange glasses on her head. Luna Lovegood. At the same time, other characters were appearing. I felt myself fill with an overwhelming sense of......emptiness and sadness. 

"Do you have the tokens yet?" a girl in black twin drills asked me, Celestia Ludenberg.

I shook my head despondently.

"What's happening now?"

"You're out of consciousness," replied a young red-headed girl with a witch hat on, Himiko Yumeno.  
"Out cold. The Cursed God got a hold of you."

"What's this been?" Celestia wondered.  
"The tenth time you've been out cold?"

"I can't help it, Celeste," I sighed.  
"Seems I'm a magnet for trouble."

"Or perhaps you go looking for it yourself," suggested Maki Harukawa. 

"I'd say it's the latter," a girl in a yellow shirt and pink overalls suggested as she stood beside a boy in dark hair and glasses and a blonde toddler with a blue dress and ponytail. The Baudelaires.  
"We know quite a bit about being magnets for trouble."

"We thought you'd be quicker at finding them," Byakuya sniffed. 

"Them?"

"The tokens," Maki clarified.

"I can use my magic to locate them," Himiko suggested.

"As can I," Luna added.

I shook my head.

"I just........I just want to.......give up."

"You can't give up!" a young girl's voice insisted.

Out of the shadows emerged Lydia Scamander. 

"You've hardly even begun."

"I don't care!" I spat.  
"I've had it. I've had it with being told what to do and who to be!"

That's when it hit me again.

"I know what I have to do."

"You're not gonna---" Violet gasped.

"No," I sighed.  
"Not yet. I'm running away."

"Back to Rosanna and the others?" Kaede Akamatsu wondered.

"Not even them," I growled.  
"I'm going off on my own, no one else with me."

"That's too dangerous!" Violet gasped.

"I don't care! All people do is boss me around, tell me what to do and who I'm supposed to be. I'm fucking sick of it, and I'm sick of them."

"You can't---" Violet began.

"Go ahead," Lydia nodded.  
"I get your struggle."

"How will you survive on your own?" Celeste wondered.

"I'll figure that out."

All of a sudden, the space began to grow dark.

"Looks like you're waking up," Maki pointed out.

"We'll see you again, most likely," Kaede told me just before darkness took hold.

* * *

Sure enough, when I woke up, I was no longer in the woods. I was in a four-poster bed atop a high tower. To my right was an open window, overlooking a dark sunset, a small breeze blowing from it. Immediately, I decided to enact my plan of escape. 

First thing's first, I took the ring the Cursed God placed on me and ripped it off my finger. I threw it under the bed, figuring it was possibly a tracking device. 

Now that that was taken care of, I started searching around the room for something I could use to pack my things. Finally I found a small pull string bag, just big enough to put a few things inside necessary to survival. On the back wall was a table of snacks; I decided to take a few of each, hurriedly stuffing it inside. 

I decided to grab the sheets from the bed and use them as cushioning. I yeeted them out of the window and heard an exclamation.

"What was that?"

Shit. It was Safiya. How the hell'd they find me so fast?

"I think Mystic's up there," Not Alice suggested. 

Footsteps faded away and my heart started pounding. I had to get out of here and fast!

Standing on the ledge, I began to reconsider what I was about to do. Maybe it was better to be safe and overprotected?

 _No!_ I exclaimed.  
 _I can't find who I am without some solitude._

By the time I finally made my decision, I heard the doorknob rattle and fists pounding on the door.

"Mystic!" Nikita exclaimed.

"Mystic, let us in!" Saf added.

Closing my eyes, I began to count.

_1......_

I heard someone fiddling with the lock.

_2......._

A little more.

_3......._

A click followed.

_NOW!_

Just as they flung open the door, I dipped down from the tower, hearing a small tear from my back. As I fell I realized that the drop was much more than I expected. I closed my eyes and flattened my hands, hoping they'd break the fall. All of a sudden, I felt myself slow down and then stop. Opening my eyes, I was shocked to see a wave of glittery violet emerging from my hands. 

"That's a part of the suits," I heard Safiya gasp.

Looking up, I saw them glancing down at me. Before they had a chance to say anything, I legged in for a forest up ahead, hoping they wouldn't follow me. 


End file.
